The Silverado Story
Rancho Yajome and the Miller Estate
President Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson, President
Ulysses S. Grant, President Theodore Roosevelt.
American presidents all, great names in American history, and all, in
some way or another, linked with the beautiful Napa Valley estate
once a part of Rancho Yajome and which is today the incomparable
recreational and residential community of Silverado.
And there are other names, not unknown, whose bearers passed this way
‐ General Mariano G. Vallejo, General John C. Frisbie, General John F.
Miller, General Thomas Holcomb, Admiral Richardson Clover, General
John J Pershing and California’s Governor Newton Booth. All of them tied
to these romantic acres.
General Vallejo was the official representative of the Mexican
government when his brother, Salvador Vallejo, acquired Rancho Yajome.
There is a story that General Vallejo gave the property as a wedding
present to his daughter when she became the bride of General John C. Frisbie. Records fail to confirm
this, but there can be little doubt that the Frisbies visited the rancho while it was owned by Uncle
Salvador.
John F. Miller
Born in Indiana, John Franklin Miller grew to manhood under the favorable influences of his native state.
Serving a partial term in the Indiana State Senate he resigned to take command as a colonel of the
Twenty‐ninth Indiana Volunteers in the Civil War. He fought at the battles of Stone River; La Vergne and
Nashville, so distinguishing himself that he was promoted in the field to the rank of major general.
Following the Civil War he returned to California, where he had lived briefly before the war. He became
Collector of the Port of San Francisco.
Then, not yet 40 years of age, General Miller embarked upon a political career. He was President Elector
at Large in 1872, 1876 and 1880. In 1879, he was a member of the Constitutional Convention and the
following year was elected to the United States Senate.
The Silverado Estate
Long before entering California politics, General Miller sought a permanent homesite remote from the
commercial bustle of San Francisco.
Having lived in Napa as a young attorney, and having served as Treasurer of Napa County in the mid
1850s, he was familiar with Rancho Yajome and the beautiful valley which was one day to be made
famous in Robert Louis Stevenson’s story "The Silverado Squatters." When he acquired the first parcel
with its rolling hills, wide meadowlands and groves of oak, birch and pine, with sparkling, chattering
Milliken Creek winding across the valley floor and the beautiful Napa hills framing it against a cloudless
sky, he knew he had reached the end of his search.
General Miller and his wife actually purchased what is today the 1200 acre Silverado property in several
parcels of land over a period of years from different grantors including the United States and the State
of California. Among the deeds was one containing the signature of President Ulysses S. Grant and
another signed by California’s Governor Newton Booth.
The deeds conveying the various parts of land to General Miller and his wife are dated 1869, 1873 and
When the property transfers were completed, General Miller named his new estate La Vergne in
1881. memory of the battle in which he first heard the whistle of a bullet fired by an enemy of the flag
of his country.
The Miller Mansion
The Millers planned the landscaping of the grounds
and the design of their residence to incorporate
adaptations of Italian and French architecture that
they had seen in their travels abroad. The great
mansion, constructed in an idyllic grove of trees
above Milliken Creek, contained 14 rooms of which
four were bedrooms. Each of the downstairs and
upstairs bedrooms had connecting baths and
marble‐faced fireplaces.
Construction began in the early 1870s and an intriguing story has come out of this event which adds a
touch of mystery and romance to the beautiful and stately building.
According to legend an old Spanish adobe stood on the property when General Miller purchased it.
Because he believed the ancient superstition that ill fortune would come to whomever caused the
adobe to be destroyed, he is said to have ordered the residence to be built around the adobe. The story
was that the adobe is actually contained within the southwest section of the first story of the massive
residence. The three foot thick walls in that part of the building certainly seem to lend credence to the
story.
Simplicity and quality were emphasized in the furnishings which inducted floor coverings and tapestries
selected from the best American and European dealers. Master bedrooms contained marble‐topped
dressers and over‐sized colonial style beds with tassel‐fringed canopies. A huge owl clock, a designed
brass wood box and a unique music box were among the many intriguing items of the Miller mansion in
the days of its builder’s residence.
The mansion's great living room, later used by Silverado as a dining room, and now as the resorts
lounge, is 84 feet long and 20 feet wide with the lofty ceilings that were marks of the time.
Outside, the mansion and its surroundings gave an impression of quiet grandeur. In the area
immediately in front of the house were majestic trees, including oak, palm, birch, magnolia, pine and
elm.
Behind the mansion along the terrace overlooking the creek were huge oak trees and an unusual and
beautiful 250 foot long stone wall. This wall, which still stands in a state of perfect preservation, is a
remarkable example of the masonry skill of the era. Made of sectional panels each about 10 feet long
and faced with stones worn smooth and round from centuries of rushing creek water; the structure was
created by skilled stone masons, most of whom came from Europe. The panels are separated by
masonry pillars upon which are large urns used as planters, then and now.
No one knows how long the wall took to build, but the back‐breaking process of selecting and gathering
the stones from the creek bed alone must have taken many months. Now, years later, it is still one of
the most exciting and beautiful examples of the stonemason’s art to be found anywhere in California.
The Clover, Maxwell Era
While neither of General Miller’s children were born at La Vergne, they grew to enjoy the beautiful
country surroundings. Son John died when only seven years old, but daughter Mary Eudora grew up to
marry Admiral Richardson Clover and to inherit the mansion and the estate.
During her time of residence, the mansion housed many distinguished guests including President
Theodore Roosevelt and General John J. Pershing. Mrs. Clover, in 1932, sold the property to Mrs. Vesta
Peak Maxwell.
La Vergne becomes Silverado
In 1953, Mrs. Maxwell sold the Miller estate, or La Vergne as it was named by General Miller, to a group
organized as the Silverado Land Company. Now, for the first time, the name of the great estate officially
became Silverado. Mrs. Maxwell retained one acre on the southern end of the property for her own use.
Here, she built a modern home as her permanent residence.
Pat Markovich, one of the former owners and a former golf professional, concerted the mansion into a
clubhouse, had an 18‐hole golf course built, and the original Silverado Resort came into being.
Silverado continued to operate as a semiprivate golf club until the early part of 1966, when the
clubhouse and the 1200 acre property was purchased by Westgate Development Company and later
Amfac, Inc. of Honolulu.
In the ensuing years, Silverado has grown in notoriety and prestige by being featured on the television
series "Falcon Crest" and by hosting the Senior PGA tour, as well as numerous professional and celebrity
tennis tournaments.
In 2010 Dolce was appointed manager by the property’s new owner: Silverado Resort Investment Group
LLC, led by Johnny Miller, World Golf Hall of Fame member and lead golf analyst for NBC Sports; Roger
Kent, a former longtime Californian who founded Rug Doctor, a manufacturer of carpet and upholstery
cleaners, and served as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer; and another California
native, Tim Wall, chief executive officer of a consumer products company in the Dallas area.
The new owners envision repositioning the resort and its two 18-hole, championship golf courses
as upper-upscale facilities and establishing a golf school to be named the Johnny Miller Golf
Academy in conjunction with their dream of creating “a new iconic golf experience”
The property presently has grown to include 439 one bedroom condominium suites, two championship
18‐hole Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf courses, 17 plexi‐paved tennis courts, ten swimming pools, three
restaurants, a 16,000 square foot spa, exercise facilities and salon.
A comprehensive 15,000 square foot conference center has been built to accommodate meetings and
social events. Throughout its history, Silverado has continued to assure uncompromising luxury and
service to its guests.